Even Nothing Can Be Surprising
by MobiObi
Summary: Obi-Wan has an adventure on an outer rim world as seen from an OC's point of view.  This is set maybe a year or two after TPM, but it's variable, Anakin just isn't with him.  This could easily be considered an AU story.
1. Chapter 1

_So I know I should be getting on with TtEotBN, but this was my first real fan fic based exclusively in the SW universe. I have the obligatory self-write-in to the original trilogy (that I got an A+ for in my writing class at school in the eighties!) but this one really started the whole Obi thing back in the late nineties when we were all waiting with anticipation for AotC. I was not confident enough to write about force powers as seen through the eyes of a Jedi, so I created a world and characters in it that were SW universe people who had little to no contact with the order, they were real outer-rim folk and it was our favorite Jedi who appeared to shake things up!_

_It's set sometime between TPM and AotC, probably early in Anakin's training, because he isn't accompanying Obi on missions yet. Again, I wasn't confident in writing a convincing Anakin so I left him back at the temple!_

_Disclaimer: As per usual, just playing around in a galaxy that's not my own. All Hail the mighty GL who would sue the pants off us all if he thought we were profiting financially for this stuff! Well, his lawyers would, anyway! The OCs are mine and I'm sure the villain will seem familiar to folks, but I swear he was created years before the man Grievous was even thought of. When I first saw pictures of Grievous, I did have to take a second look, because I seriously thought someone had totally read this and ripped my bad guy off! The only problem with that was that I wrote it long hand and I let like 2 people read it! I don't think they were secret Lucasfilm spies, somehow, especially considering one of them was my future husband! Anyhoo, I based him on a bad guy from the game DIABLO II, from the desert level. There was a striking demon like dude who was very tall and thin with four arms, each wielding a blade and I just thought that would be so cool if he were swinging four lightsabers around and towering over old Obi. So there, that should clear things up and not get me into too much trouble!_

_Okey Dokey, here we go, hope you like, review please…. _

I guess I should have realized something like this would happen. After all, Sav and I were getting bored with the harvest on the mountain slopes and were longing for an adventure. The garegrax herds were moving up to the snow capped peaks and we wanted to follow them. Anything to get away from home for a while and the farming work. Sav had managed to get a job on Kalib's land, so we could hang out together on our breaks, so long as we weren't caught, Kalib was very annoying that way; no fraternizing with the competition. Kalib and dad had been friendly rivals for years and there were rules about this business.

Sav tossed a stone over the cliff we were sitting on and watched it disappear to the valley bottom, clattering against the jagged rocks as it fell. The sun was getting behind the Finuran Mountains beyond which we had no real idea of the world.

More mountains, we guessed, but what we would have given to see for ourselves, to become explorers, that was our dream. I would lead and Sav would follow, although I think he always saw things the other way around. But right now we were too tired to really consider such an expedition.

"So, when are you going to marry my sister?" The question came from nowhere, and for a moment I didn't register that it had come from Sav.

"Where did that come from?" I asked.

"Not a good time?"

"Just a bit unexpected."

"Unexpected? It's a foregone conclusion you're going to marry her, the family was just wondering when, so we can get the village organized."

"Dad hasn't even named his successor yet, I can't set a date until then, if he chooses me or not."

"What if it's 'not'?"

I sat silently for a moment. I loved Tai very much, but as I was I had nothing to offer her, we'd end up living either with her family or mine and I wanted to be able to give her a home of her own and some land we could work together. My father was getting old and ready to choose a successor for his farm, but I didn't really want the responsibility of the whole place. He had said he meant to split the land up between my siblings and began to favor Dil, my elder brother and the whole place would probably end up being his. I couldn't have been able to live in the same house as him if he was leader. We just never did see eye to eye. I needed a place of my own before I could settle down and take a wife. And I would have that piece of land, I was sure of that, I just didn't know when.

"Hello! You've been very quiet for quite a while now." Sav was great at bringing me back to a reasonably close proximity to reality.

"Sorry, just thinking about some options."

"You think too much. Just marry her and go live in some cave near Sova Summit. We can visit when the snow thaws. Problem solved."

I began to chuckle and noticed a thin line of cloud stretching across the darkening horizon. It looked strange, I'd never seen anything quite like it before, yet strangely it was reminiscent of something from my past.

"Yeah, somewhere on Sova, chasing garegrax and harvesting yinpatta, and no inlaws or relatives for at least seven months of the year. Sheer bliss!"

Sav laughed and lay back looking up at the sky above us. I was still interested in the cloud ahead, which seemed to be moving much faster than any other clouds.

"Anyway, how could I marry and leave you to suffer Kalib and both our families alone. How long do you think they'll take to find you a bride? I'm sure they've already got a list somewhere."

The line of cloud had abruptly stopped and just seemed to be expanding at one end. Sav pulled himself up, also seeing the cloud formation changing unnaturally.

"I doubt there's a girl on this planet who'd have the patience to stay with a despicable rogue like me. Is that cloud coming straight for us?"

"That's no cloud!" I exclaimed and we both saw the craft as it raced towards us. We scrambled to our feet and jumped to either side for cover as the craft skimmed the grassy top of the cliff face we had just been sitting on. The ship ploughed on over the surface of the plateau digging itself further into the soil. It was slowing down and eventually stopped just short of the mountain side which rose above us some thousand feet of solid rock.


	2. Chapter 2

I picked myself up and went over to Sav, who was a little shaky but OK.

"Wow, some evening break!" he said as I helped him up. "Is this your first near death experience with a badly landed space craft?"

We made our way to the embedded machine which was spitting sparks at us and several small fires had started, but the main bulk of the ship seemed to be intact, if half buried, but at least we could both identify the make.

"That's a Jedi starfighter, isn't it?" Sav confirmed this.

"Haven't seen one of those since I was a kid, it flew in to Bowa that time we had the civil trouble, never forgot that as long as I live."

"My dad's going to be really annoyed, this plateau was just about ready for next year's planting." I sighed.

"We have a downed Jedi ship and all you think of is your dad's crop!" exclaimed Sav.

"Oh, no, I'm becoming a farmer!"

We both jumped into the crater the landing had created and tried to find a way into the ship. It wasn't easy to dig our way to the hatch, but as the sun dipped below the Finuran Mountains we came to a switch which would let us in to see the condition of the pilot. I gingerly flipped the switch and we fell back as the great hatch sprung open, throwing soil into the air. After some coughing and spluttering from us both we peered into the cockpit.

The pilot was slouched forward over the controls. We pulled him back into the seat and saw his peaceful, if unconscious, face which had a thin line of blood running from the temple down the side of his cheek and into his beard. He wore the traditional robes of a Jedi Knight but, despite the beard looked not much older than Sav and myself. It was then that I noticed the smell of fuel.

"Come on, we need to get him out of here." I grabbed the man's shoulders while Sav lent in and undid his safety straps. I needed Sav's help to pull the body clear of the ship and we struggled to get him over the crater edge. The Jedi seemed to recover a little as we made our way from the crash site. He was able to find his feet and stumble along with us. We made it to the edge of the plateau and some bush cover when the whole ship went up in a huge fire ball.

"Good old self destruct," croaked the Jedi, "what a light show." He turned away from the burning wreckage and lay down in the ground staring up into the emerging stars.

"I'm very grateful to you both for assisting my escape. I really didn't fancy burning in that fireball."

Sav and I hadn't seen anything burn with such ferocity before and we just watched as flames and smoke rose up into the night. It had the effect of lighting up the mountain side and creating one heck of a foul smell.

"Not very discreet, but it does rather destroy any evidence." The Jedi rolled over and gazed at the spectacle with us.

"Still, it probably isn't a good idea to stay around here. Know of any safe hideaways in the vicinity?"

Sav and I turned to look at our visitor. He seemed to be perking up more and more and also seemed to be rather enjoying the situation.

"There's an old garegrax cave down over the far edge, pretty well hidden and abandoned."

"Ah, that would involve a bit of a climb, no doubt. I had forgotten how mountainous this place was. Come on ,then, best make a move."

He stood up on shaky legs and steadied himself for a moment against a nearby tree.

"Maybe you should come to the village so we can treat your wounds, Sir ….?"

"Obi-Wan Kenobi, and you are?"

"I'm Sav, this is Vin, we're from Taris, just west of Bowa."

"Pleased to meet you, let's get to that cave, then we can talk."

We moved off, heading back to our original sitting place. Sav went first over the edge, as the better climber, then Kenobi and I came last. Sav and I were the best climbers around having lived all our lives in the mountains and having an exploring instinct almost unheard of by our people. Kenobi found it hard going, however, and we made slow progress down the cliff face. The light from the moons was just enough for us to see our way, not that Sav and I needed it, we could have found our way blind folded. Sav cleared some of the debris and foliage from the cave entrance and we made our way inside. The Jedi sat exhausted for some time, unable to speak or move. Sav and I collected some wood and a fire was soon started.

"Just a few moments, gentlemen." The Jedi breathed heavily and continued, "I shall explain myself later." He leant back against the cavern wall and continued to breath heavily.

"One of us should go and get some supplies and help for him," I said, "and you are the better climber."

"Right, good idea, you stay and find out what's going on, I'll be back before you can skin a damak. A Jedi knight, I can't believe it! This is so amazing!" He smiled excitedly and disappeared down the mountain.


	3. Chapter 3

I looked out into the blackness of the cave mouth. It was impenetrable and foreboding, and I couldn't help feeling we were being watched. I moved some of the foliage back across the entrance and, though I doubted it actually shielded us from prying eyes it made me feel better. As I sat back down in front of the fire, Kenobi sat up and looked around the cave.

"I thought there were two of you? Where's …"

He thought for a moment. "Where's Sav?"

"Gone for some food and medical supplies to help you." I replied.

"That was kind of him, but I really would have preferred my presence here to be unnoticed."

"I hate to tell you this but your fireball of a ship would have been a pretty good indication that someone's here. We may have abandoned most technology out here, but we know what a crash looks like."

"Yes. But who could have survived something like that? If medical supplies are needed it rather implies someone did survive and needs help and is therefore in a weakened condition."

"Hadn't thought of that," I conceded, "but you do need help and you are in a weakened state."

"Yes, thank you, I'm not exactly appreciating everything the two of you have done for me. My apologies, and thank you."

"That's OK, I guess it's been one heck of a day!"

"I've had worse, not many, but worse."

He moved closer to the fire and warmed his hands.

"I have to get to Minpanus as soon as possible."

"Minpanus? Where's that?" I asked, rather puzzled. I had never heard of such a place.

"It's a small space port over those mountains and on a bit through the canyon."

"There's a canyon beyond the Finurans?"

"Yes, I sailed over it looking for a place to land, well, crash anyway. I had been heading for Minpanus but my ship was heavily damaged and I went off course horrendously and ended up on that plateau above us. Good job I saw it or I'd have hit a mountain for sure."

"What are you doing here, anyway? We opted out of the republic years ago when I was a kid. Can't be anything worth a Jedi knight coming here for."

"I was on my way to Coruscant with some important information, I wished to discuss certain matters with the Jedi council. I was attacked in hyperspace and dropped out to find myself in this system. I managed to get the ship as far as this planet and knew of Minpanus, it's been around for a couple of years now and a good refueling station from all accounts. But they chased me into the atmosphere and although I finally destroyed the annoying little ships, my ship just didn't want to do anything I wanted it to. So I crashed, as best I could."

He moved back against the cave wall and tried to make himself comfortable.

"I'll wait until daylight and make a move towards Minpanus, should get to the mountains in a Lorritians day, around seventeen hours of daylight this time of year, right?"

This Jedi was tremendously well informed, he was spot on. Seventeen hours of daylight and around twelve hours of night, which we quickly got used to as children, although my Dad still complained there weren't enough hours of night in the summer, didn't give the yinpatta time to rest.

Kenobi was soon asleep and I felt my eyes getting heavy when I heard a sound outside the cave. Some nagging feeling made me approach the entrance with caution and I just had time to jump out of the way when a metal bolt shot through the makeshift cover I'd made for the cave. I pressed myself against the cave wall to avoid a second bolt. Several more followed and whizzed past my face. From behind me the light of the fire went out and I turned to see Kenobi on his feet and making for the cave entrance.

"Stay exactly where you are," he whispered. "Don't move, they've got you pinned, you move they'll have you skewered."

He pulled the robe hood over his head and pulled it closed around him, then with incredible stealth, he went through the foliage cave cover without moving a single leaf. If I hadn't been so scared I'd have tried to see how he did that. Another bolt whizzed past my face, grazing my cheek, causing a low gasp to escape my lips.

At that moment the leaf cave cover was totally destroyed by the arrival of a black clothed figure smashing through it. The figure rolled forward and quickly recovered to turn towards me. It leapt at me, and I could see it had its arm raised with some sort of weapon, so I grabbed the arm as it approached me and tried to keep it from me. My attacker's other hand closed around my throat, his body weight pushing me against the cave wall. I had to release the arm holding the weapon with one hand so I could tear at the one at my throat, and I brought my leg up to kick my assailant. That didn't seem to do anything and the grip around my throat grew tighter, making me gag. And the hand holding the weapon was coming closer to my face. I tried kicking again but without much success. My vision was beginning to blur and my arms were aching terribly from the strain.

Then I heard a sort of fizzing sound and suddenly the figure went limp in my arms and I could breathe again. I let the figure drop and saw Kenobi standing in front, his lightsabre glowing blue for a moment before he extinguished it. He jumped back against the wall.

"Stay there," he warned, but I was too relieved to be free of that assassin's grip and went to step over the corpse when I felt a searing pain in my side which hit me with such an impact it threw me to the ground and knocked the wind out of me. I tried to get up, but every move sent waves of pain through my body. I had never felt anything like this, not even when I had broken my arm jumping from a cliff edge into a shallow pool. That had been terrible, but this was blinding me, paralyzing me and I screamed out freely, not that it helped to stop the pain. I lay where I had fallen for what seemed an incredibly long time, until I felt someone turn me over onto my unwounded side. Through my haze of pain I saw Kenobi's face, calm but concerned. He spoke quietly, peacefully and my pain seemed to ease.

"Let me see into your mind, I can help you with your hurt, let me into your mind."

His voice was so soothing I found myself relaxing and I was able to breathe more easily. It was then that I noticed Sav, his face worried, resetting the fire and preparing the medical implements he must have brought back. I bet he didn't think he'd be using them on me, I thought and I tried to chuckle to myself, but a nagging twinge of pain took the smile from my face.

"What just happened?" I asked, slowly and groggily.

"Later, my friend, first let's get that bolt out of you." Said Kenobi and he moved my arm out of the way.

"Probably best you don't see this, Vin. You look tired, go to sleep."

My eyes were suddenly too heavy to keep open and I felt so relaxed I couldn't help but fall into darkness, a blissful state it seemed to me.


	4. Chapter 4

I certainly didn't dream, and I woke up what seemed like moments later to find myself in very familiar territory. There was Tai's embroidered picture of my home, and over in the corner of the room, my book shelf covered with journals and texts. I considered that the night's adventure had been a dream itself, but a sudden sharp pain in my side as I tried to get up brought me back to being an invalid, although the pain was nothing like it had been in the cave. I felt a soothingly damp cloth placed on my forehead and looked into the face of Welsa, my youngest sister. She looked so much like Mum, but wiser, older beyond her years, somehow.

"Quietly, now, you're not healed yet, and need plenty of rest for the next day or so."

"How did I get here?" I asked.

"That Jedi person and Sav brought you down last night. He did a bloody good job healing your side, the wound is closed and healing fast. But it still looks pretty sore." She shook her head in mock reproach. "'Stay where you are' he said, and you go and move! It could have been much worse!"

"Yes, well, you have some guy try to throttle you and then escape him and _not_ want to move. It's harder than you think!" I coughed to try to get some sympathy which got me another damp cloth to my forehead, a little more forcefully this time.

"I don't know! I'm sure I would have down things differently."

"I'm sure you would have charmed the buggers to allow you safe passage beyond the Finurans! And if I could I would bow to your obviously greater assessment and execution of events."

"Don't get grouchy, we're just glad you're OK."

"How's Dad getting on with Kenobi?" I asked, knowing my father's dislike of outsiders, especially when they brought trouble.

"He's letting him stay here until you're better, but that's as far as his hospitality will go, although I think Raina and Uiln are trying to talk him round."

She gave me a knowing wink and then got up. She changed the cloth on my forehead one more time and went to leave. Argh, yes, my other dear sisters. They were sure to want this Kenobi to stick around!

"Sav is here, would you like to see him? I think he blames himself for what happened, believes he should have been there."

"Oh, great, then both of us would have been wounded, or worse! Well, you'd better send him in." She moved to go and I held onto her hand for a moment to hold her back. "Oh, and thanks, Welsa."

She smiled her warm smile at me.

"Not quite Mum, I know, but I guess I'll do!"

She left the room and I was able to lift myself on my elbows to look around the place. The room seemed smaller somehow, like a child's room, not really my room anymore. I didn't let it get to me and changed my train of thought by looking down as my bandaged side. The bandage was tightly wrapped around my middle with a small patch of drying blood was on my left side and I touched it gingerly. It stung a little, but seemed to be feeling better all the time. As I waited for Sav, I found I could sit up reasonably comfortably.

Sav came in with a worried smile on his face. He came to the bed side and sat down.

"You see," I reassured him, "on the mend and eager for a good climb."

"I'm so sorry, Vin. I should have stayed with you until daylight."

"We had no idea anything like this would happen. And what could you have done? Let's face it, Kenobi would have had two of us to cope with! How is he anyway, the medical stuff was for him, after all."

"Yeah, he's fine, just a couple of broken ribs and that gash on his head, he was sorted before we got that bolt out of you. Speaking of which.."

At this he went into his pocket and produced the bolt which had embedded itself in my side. It had a much larger diameter than I had expected, with a sharpened end and small fins on the other.

"It was amazing to see him work. Swish, one, two, it's out, and then before I knew it you were bandaged up and snoring loudly!"

"I don't snore! Do I?"

"Yep, don't know how Tai will cope! Of course, so does she, so you'll probably never get a chance to sleep once you're married!" He grinned devilishly at me.

"Is she here, can I see her?" I asked.

"Well, you're still pretty beat up. Don't want to excite yourself too early and have a relapse," he joked. With my good arm I gave him a wallop.

"Just ask her in here please!"

He laughed and left the room. It wasn't long before Tai came in and sat by my bedside. She reached for my hand and held it in hers, her beautiful face full of love and concern. She gently lent forward and kissed my forehead.

"I don't know, what shall we do with you?" she said, feigning reproach.

"It's beyond me, I'll just have to get married I suppose, settle down. You fancy the job?"

I tried to look serious, but a smile was creeping over my face. She knew me so well and grabbed my nose with her hand, playfully giving it a gentle tug.

"Now, Mr Vin Devlin, just because you're in a vulnerable position, it doesn't mean you can go taking advantage of a woman in love."

I couldn't help laughing and she released her grip and I calmed down and took both her hands in mine.

"My dear Tai Salvosus, I love you and cannot think of a world without you. I would be honored if you would consent to be my wife. There is little I can offer you at the moment, but I promise to do whatever it takes to make you happy and I will continue to love you until the moons collide or the sun fades…whichever comes first!"

I had managed to keep a straight face for my whole speech, and saw tears forming in sweet Tai's eyes, so the last remark managed to raise a smile from her.

"I think we'll get on just fine and I can see us married if you can."

Her beaming, cheeky smile was all the confirmation I needed. I tried to raise myself up to kiss her, but fell back as an annoying stab of pain winded me. She leant over me and kissed my lips gently.

"You really are going to need looking after, aren't you! Get some rest, I'll see you tomorrow."

I did feel rather tired, and soon fell into another dreamless sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

When I awoke I felt much more refreshed and my wound had become no more than an annoying dull ache. I felt able to stand and though I was a little shaky, I found that most of my movements didn't trouble me at all, so walking to the bedroom door was easy. I put on a warm house robe and made my way into the hall. It was getting dark, the sun having just set, but I felt like exploring my home again and I felt very hungry.

From the sitting room I heard the low murmur of voices and made my way there. When I entered the room everyone seemed surprised to see me, all except Kenobi, who just looked up from his game of Chinjar, nodded his head to me and went back to his game. Dad came over to me and helped me into an armchair. I didn't really need his help, but it was unusual to see him so concerned and I appreciated his attentiveness. We didn't always see eye to eye, but I suppose that was due to the fact we were so alike.

"How are you feeling, Vin?" he asked once he'd sat down himself.

"Much better, Dad, thanks, and many thanks to you, Jedi Kenobi, I owe you my life."

Kenobi looked up again momentarily and nodded again.

"Just repaying your kindness to me, Vin. Ah, Chi!" he exclaimed and the game folded together into a beautiful spiral shape of intricate curls and swirls.

"Now, I suppose we should talk business," he said and he moved the game out of his way, leaning towards us.

"We have already discussed this, Jedi," my Dad said, "and I said we would not mention it until Vin was well enough."

"Oh, I'm alright, Dad, just a bit sore, that's all, I can discuss anything you want."

"You don't know what he's planning," Dad indicated Kenobi in a rather dismissive manner.

"Dad, I'm fine, really, I can handle things. What's the problem?" I turned to Kenobi. "I thought you needed to get to Minpanus as soon as possible."

"That's right, the journey there is vital, but I need help, I can't make it through that terrain on my own. And I understand you and Sav are the best mountaineers in these parts."

"Mountaineers, yes, but we're no soldiers. If we come across friends of that fellow who wanted to make a pin cushion out of me, we won't be any good to you."

"There won't be any more of them, I promise you that." There was a sudden menace to his voice and his face that showed such conviction I truly believed him.

"Once over the Finurans, I should be fine, but as far as mountaineering is concerned I've always had trouble. And I hear you're a bit of an explorer. What greater expedition can you think of?"

"What does Sav think about all this?" I asked, looking between Kenobi and Dad.

Dad looked down at the floor, knowing the consequences of his answer.

"Of course he's going, what did you expect? He doesn't have any responsibilities, no farm, no wife, no children."

"Dad, neither do I."

"And just what will you tell Tai? You proposed to her yesterday, you know. I'm not sure how much you remember after the Jedi's mind probing."

"That was purely medicinal, Mr Dethlin, and as you can see it has worked rather well."

"Perhaps too well, if it takes my son away from me again."

"I protected your son's life once, Mr Dethlin. I would do so again."

"You almost got him killed after he saved your life, _Mr_ Kenobi!"

"Please, Dad, this isn't helping."

All three of us backed into our chairs and were silent for a while.

"I'll go," I said and immediately Dad made a move to talk but I stopped him. "Now, Dad, you and I know I couldn't marry Tai without a place of my own, and this would be a perfect opportunity to check out the Finuran slopes. And I must admit I want to see beyond those peaks. We'll be back before the planting season, always a great time for a wedding, and you know Tai's Mum will want the whole thing planned and re-planned."

Dad sat silently for a while, he knew I would want to go, and though he didn't like it, he also knew he wouldn't be able to persuade me to stay, no matter what he said.

"I suppose that means I'll have to invite Mrs Salvosus over every once in a while to arrange things."

"That sounds good, Dad. And everything will be fine, I promise you."

He smiled slightly sadly at me and got up to leave.

"I'll get you some supper, you must be hungry."

"Thanks, Dad," I said as he left the room. I turned back to Kenobi who had started a new game of Chinjar. He didn't look up from his game, but smiled as he realized my attention was on him.

"You know, I haven't played this in years. My old Master thought it would teach me patience," he said, as he manipulated the board keys. "Do you play?"

"It's not really my thing," I replied. I didn't mention that Dad had the same plan for me, but I'd broken the damn thing three times in frustration, so not been allowed to touch it again, much to my relief. Of course, Welsa loved it and would have been impressed with Kenobi's obvious skill, but I guessed she was off tutoring the Howart's kids. As for my other sisters, I was surprised they weren't around.

"So, who were those guys in the cave? And how do you know there won't be anymore?"

"Ah, business," replied Kenobi, and he turned the game off completely. "They were Shandarii, or Stealthers. They usually travel on pairs, but I was rather surprised , we had three assailants, which was why you were hurt, I'm afraid. I wasn't expecting that. I must be rather highly rated!"

"And you're sure there won't be anybody else after you?" I asked

"Not Stealthers, they're usually rather good at their job, which makes them rather arrogant. They wouldn't dream of taking up where another Stealther has left off, that would be acknowledging a failure of a fellow Shandarii. They, also, never share information until after a kill, so you can bet no one else knows I'm here. Unfortunately they are quite excellent at concealing their spaceships, so in about a thousand years it will probably be dug up and hailed as an ancient temple for gods worship or something! And considering I can't wait around until then, I think we should consider leaving as soon as possible."

"Right, I'll go and get packed." I said and moved to leave, but Kenobi stopped me.

"I think tomorrow will be just fine," he said, chuckling slightly to himself. "I realize your father wishes me away as soon as possible, but I rather doubt he wishes the same for you."

He got up and started to leave.

"Early tomorrow, I suggest, just after dawn. We'll get to the Finuran base by that evening. Sleep well."

As he went through the door he agilely maneuvered around Ulin and Raina.

"Good evening, ladies," he nodded to them both, which, surprisingly, caused them to blush and look away. They stood at the door frame watching him walk down the corridor. After a while, presumably because he had disappeared into the guest room, they relaxed and turned to look at me.

Wow!" said Ulin, wafting her hand in front of her face. "I mean, where did you dig up that gorgeous guy? And are there any more?"

"He's a Jedi, Ulin," said Raina as she sat next to me, "and they don't get 'involved' with people."

"Well, he can fall out of the sky into my valley anytime!" said Ulin turning back to the corridor and gazing in the direction of Kenobi's room.

"Oh Ulin!" exclaimed Raina giggling with shock. Ulin turned to her with a devilish grin.

"Well, he could."

"I'm leaving before this gets too embarrassing!" I said and I left the girls to discuss the finer points of the Jedi's charms.


	6. Chapter 6

_Valairy Scot: Thanks for the review on this one. I rather liked that line too, old Vin is a bit of a romantic! It gets more Obi-centric after this chapter, but I really wanted to get across some of the motivations of Vin and Sav and to do that it got a bit wordy! _

I headed to the kitchen, where Dad was filling a bowl with stew. He was surprised to see me, but smiled and set the bowl on the table and sat down, pulling a chair out for me. I sat beside him and hungrily began work on the stew. The yinpatta bread was fresh and tasted fantastic.

"Glad you have your appetite back, you had us all worried, you know. That darned Jedi coming here, bringing those stealth things, it really is intolerable, we voted out of the Republic so that this sort of thing wouldn't happen!"

"I really don't think he wanted to crash here, Dad, he didn't have much of a choice."

"Maybe, but I don't see why he needs to involve you and Sav any further in this business."

"Nothing's going to happen, it's a simple journey and there really isn't anyone more capable for this. We can be there and back in less than two months, by which time the whole wedding can be planned. And I can't think of a greater incentive to get back than to marry the woman I love."

"I don't trust that man to stay out of trouble. There's something about him. He's not telling us everything and I'm not convinced there aren't more of those killers after him. If you are determined to go with him, just keep your eyes open, and don't take everything he says for granted.

"OK, Dad, I'll be careful." I finished the stew and got up to go to bed, taking the rest of the bread with me.

"You know, your mother would be very proud of you."

I turned back to see Dad starting to clear the table. He looked up at me and held my gaze for a moment.

"As am I," he finished, and turned to the wash basin. I'd never known him like this, not even when Mum died. I was stunned into silence. I walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks, Dad," said quietly, but earnestly. Neither of us spoke after that, but I helped him clear the rest of the things away and a quiet calmness seemed to fill the kitchen. It was only broken when Dil, Sav and Tai came in by the back door.

"Well, that was a bad one," said Dil who looked exhausted, covered in dust. Tai immediately came over to me and I welcomed her with open arms.

"Feeling better, I see." Dil placed the pick and shovel he had been carrying against the wall and moved to the sink to wash his hands.

"Evening, Mr Dethlin," said Sav.

Dad turned to Sav and gave him a cold grin.

"Sav, Tai, good to see you," he said curtly and then turned back to the dishes.

"What's going on?" asked Dil, looking around the room at us. "You seem a bit apprehensive. That Jedi squeeze your brains or something? Aren't you going to ask what happened today? We had to clear the west field completely, overridden with besties, whole crop riddled with their bore holes. Won't be able to sell a single head of it, maybe for cheap fuel, but that's about it. Still, at least it won't spread. We'll need you on the north face tomorrow, Vin, quite a bit of work over there, clearing the zin weed."

Sav and I glanced at each other and I was about to speak when Dad came in first.

"Vin can't help out for a while," he said turning to look at Dil's confused face.

"If he can get up to hug his girlfriend, he can get up to work a field alright."

"I'm going with Kenobi, the Jedi, over the Finurans. He needs our help, he couldn't make it on his own."

"He's a Jedi, he can manage," said Dil angrily, "the farm, on the other hand, cannot be down a major hand right now, it's preposterous. Tell him Dad."

Dil immediately looked at Dad who avoided his gaze.

"You agreed, didn't you?" Dil was pretty much fuming by now. "That's great, just great. What are we supposed to do, just double on everything, is that it, while he goes swanning off on some walk in the park?"

"It's not like that," I said and I stepped up to him, "the Finurans are no park, you know that more than anyone. You need to be the best to climb that range and Sav and I are the best, so who better to go with him."

Dil turned to Sav, who was looking rather guilty.

"I was wondering why you were so damned quiet all the way here," he said accusingly. "Does Kalib know about this? 'Cause if he does, there's no way you'll have a job when you get back, or should that be _if_ you get back."

Sav just looked at his feet.

"I know, I gave my notice this morning," he said quietly, then, getting more courage from somewhere, he looked Dil straight in the eye.

"This is our chance to break away, find some land of our own."

Dil was taken aback. I really don't think he'd considered this, leaving Taris, setting up somewhere else. He'd always known the farm here and that was as far as he could see, it really didn't occur to him that anyone would want to leave.

"The timing maybe wrong, but it's the chance I've been waiting for, for Sav, for Tai and I," I said, coming to Sav's defense.

"You're crazy, both of you, and I'm still the one with the problem."

At this Tai stepped forward.

"Then I can easily solve that," she said and went over to pick up the shovel Dil had placed against the wall. "If I'm going to be part of this family I may as well start by becoming Vin's temporary replacement. I emphasis 'temporary'," she gave me a smiling glare, "until Vin returns, or another hand can be found."

She stood in front of us all, proud and beautiful, the folds of her dress caught in the shovel blade.

"Now, you know I'm capable, Dil Dethlin, I worked Kalib's land for three seasons before I came of age. I know it's a little unconventional , but so's having a Jedi land in your back yard."

Dil could hardly refuse the offer, even if he didn't seem very happy about it. I moved to Tai and hugged her again.

"I love you," I said in her ear, to which she replied, "I know," and she kissed me just below my ear.

"Fine, have it your way, as usual," said Dil as he moved to leave the kitchen. At the doorway he turned and glared at Dad for a moment, then looked over at Tai, a slight blush in his cheeks, his eyes only catching hers for a moment before he had to look away.

"I meant it about that field, you'll have to get some rest so we can start early tomorrow," he said and with that he turned and left the room.

Dad quietly followed, leaving Sav, Tai and I wondering what tomorrow would bring.

"My kit's packed," said Sav, "we can leave as soon as it's light.

I don't know if it was just because we were all tired or the conversation with Dil had made us all think, the mood wasn't as I would have expected. I had certainly lost my initial excitement about the expedition and was now having doubts about the whole thing. I hadn't thought at all about how Dil would cope, or what Tai would do, I just thought things would go on as they had before. But when Sav had said he quit Kalib and Tai was going to be working for Dil, it suddenly seemed like the whole world was changing just a little too fast. You have to realize, these last few days had been the most eventful of my life. The only thing that came close was Mum's death, but that had been a long drawn out illness, about which there was nothing any of us could have done. I couldn't help wondering what she would have said and done in this situation. I could just make out her voice in my head.

"Here," she'd have said, handing me a tightly wrapped bundle of yinpatta bread and helta cheese, "you take that and mind you don't go having the whole lot on the first night, you know how it upsets your stomach when you eat too much. I don't want to have to become your sick nurse as well."

"You're coming too?" I'd say excitedly.

"Of course, you silly boy, you think I'd let you go off on an adventure without me? Dear me, after we climbed Sova Summit together, do you remember?" She'd have her walking clothes on and have found her favorite walking staff, the one Dad still had by the kitchen fireplace.

"Now, let's get that Jedi and we can be off. I'll be glad to have some intelligent conversation for a change. I wonder what the new etiquette styles are on Coruscant these days." And she would be off down the road, following her heart, knowing dad would always be there, waiting for her to come home.

"Yes, tomorrow, at dawn, sounds great," I said to Sav, but looking at the stick by the fire. I turned to Tai.

"Are you sure you want to do this, working for Dil is going to be … interesting," I said.

"If I can handle one Dethlin, I can handle them all. You mark my words, you won't recognize the place when you get back."

She chuckled and we made our ways to bed, Sav and Tai to the other guest room and I returned to mine where I quickly got my gear together and was soon in bed and dreaming of high mountain peaks and treacherous crags of stone and rock.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning I awoke completely refreshed. As I washed I looked down at my side and ofund only a small pale scar where the bolt had entered. I moved my body around, stretching and twisting, testing my strength. Iw was as if I'd never been harmed at all. I felt terrific and raring to go.

In the kitchen, Sav and Kenobi were already having breakfast and eagerly being served by Ulin and Raina. Having a Jedi as a companion had elevated Sav in their eyes from village annoyance to local hero, although it was Raina who seemed more attentive to him and he seemed to be enjoying it. I sat down and started to tuck in.

"Do you have everything you need?" asked Kenobi. He looked quite different. He was no longer wearing his Jedi robes, but Taris fashion walking gear, grass green trousers and muddy brown jumper. His hair, which had been loose, was now tied back away from his face, which had a weather beaten quality about it. But his eyes really were piercing, that was the only way I can describe them. It was strange, you felt as though they could have looked right through you and understood everything about you in only a moment. I couldn't understand why I hadn't seen this before.

"Yes," I said as I attacked another slice of bacon," everything except provisions, we should take some yinpatta bread and helta cheese."

I could see Ulin and Raina glance at each other at the mention of this, but they carried on with their work.

"How long do you think it will take to climb over the Fimurans?" Kenobi had finished eating and was sitting back, drinking some tea.

"To get to the top should be around a week, maybe two, depending on the weather, terrain, that kind of thing."

"And can we expect trouble from any garegrax on the way?"

"Shoudn't think so, not on the climb up. They'll be migrating to the high peaks and we don't go that high. The best place to get over is going to be the lowest peak we can find and that's Pass Nivone. No G's around there, not this time of year."

"Any other indigenous creatures I should be aware of? I'm afraid my natural history of this place is rather hazy."

"Not that's up that high. Although the Finuran's are pretty much unexplored, we might find something new," said Sav.

"Interesting," said Kenobi as he finished his tea. "Well, gentlemen, shall we make a move?" He got up from the table and picked up his cup and plate, but Ulin was there immediately to take them from him.

"I would like to thank you both for this excellent breakfast, and for your hospitality throughout my very pleasant rest here," and he bowed slightly to my blushing sisters. For once in their lives they were speechless. Kenobi had that effect on them. It was as though he had them completely under his spell. He smiled warmly at them and then picked up his pack with ease.

Sav and I did the same and I remembered to put my food rations in my pack. We were just about to leave when a thought occurred to me. I turned and went over to the fireplace and lifted up Mum's walking stick. It stood shoulder height to me and felt comforting in my grip. I felt Raina's hand on my arm and I looked at her concerned face.

"Don't worry," I said, "you know if I'm taking this it means I'll be back. And it's what she would have wanted."

Raina smiled and let my arm go. She had tears in her eyes and she hugged me goodbye.

We left the house with the sun on our backs, illuminating the frozen peaks ahead and as the sun rose we kept a steady pace through the valley, passing further and further away from Taris. The terrain was pretty smooth, the occasional bog and ditch giving us a bit of trouble, but surprisingly, we passed the Adta woods without incident.

Out conversation wasn't very much to speak of, the weather, the terrain, how we came to live in the valley in the first place. When I told Kenobi of the time that other Jedi had come to Bowa it was Sav who appeared more interested. It seemed that since we'd set out, Kenobi had become preoccupied with something else, his mission I presumed. He never once got impatient or expressed any anger or unhappiness at our relatively slow progress, there was just the feeling that now we had started it was imperative we didn't stop, even though this was never actually spoken of. The Finurans did get closer, however, and we were soon at the base of their sheer cliffs. It was already quite dark and we made our camp in a cluster of trees some hundred yards from the place we would start our ascent in the morning.

The night closed in and the fire began to die down. Our meal had been a silent affair, with Sav and I giving Kenobi the occasional questioning glance and also to each other, but Kenobi just stared into the fire, a look of great concentration on his face.

Without saying a word we both seemed to know that it was best to just leave him to his thoughts and go to sleep so we settled down. It had been a long day and I was soon asleep.

I woke up with a start, but I couldn't remember what I had been dreaming about. I just knew it had scared me so much it had awoken me. The firelight had died down considerably, but the light from the two moons cast great shadows across the clearing I rolled over and looked at Sav was was snoring gently.

"I guess the tremor didn't affect him," Though his voice was very low the sould startled me and I sat bolt upright, staring at Kenobi who was sitting with his back against a tree, his legs drawn in to his chest, his eyes unusually cold and serious.

"A tremor?" I stammered, trying to recover my composure. The blackness seemed to close in around me.

"In the force," he said slowly, "It's what woke you, the living force is very strong here. I felt it as we journeyed across the valley, the trees, the plants, the very soil shook. Something's changed, I felt it's approach all day. I've never felt anything quite like it."

"Is it in the valley, is it close?" I looked around, not really knowing what to look for. Kenobi's words were worrying, his whole manner had changed, his usual slightly carefree attitude had completely gone.

"Over the Finurans, probably in Minpanus, but this does change things. I'll have to go on alone, I don't see how you boys can help. I'll leave in a couple of hours, explain to Sav." He got up and I got up with him.

"Wait, you need our help on the climb. You said so yourself. There's no way you can make that on your own."

"I'll find a way, Vin. You don't understand, this threat is something I wasn't expecting, but it's coming for me and I doubt it will take kindly to any companions I have around me."

"How could it have found you? You said no one but those Stealthers were after you and you dealt with them."

"I should have left once you were safe in Taris, but I was foolish in my own arrogance." He looked gravely at me. "Obviously the Stealthers were not the main threat and were sent to cloud my judgement. This has all become a lot more serious, my friend."

He turned and began packing his gear. I stood thinking for a moment.

"I owe you my life, I'm not about to abandon you. We said we'd get you over these mountains and we will. Sav and I are men of our word." I pointed over at Sav who, at that moment, rolled over and looked at us both with sleepy eyes.

"Is it time to get started, then?" he yawned and slowly pulled himself out of his sleeping bag.

"There; you see, the guy's half asleep and ready to help you."

I could see that Kenobi needed more persuading but I was a farmer, not a diplomat. My last resort was humor.

"Fine, go ahead on your own. But if you fail, don't you dare send your Jedi spirit to haunt us."

His faced changed as a warm smile spread over it, and he laid a hand on my shoulder.

"To Pass Nivone and no further," he said meaningfully, " and since we're all awake I think breakfast is called for, then we can begin at dawn."

Sav looked a little confused but I quickly explained the situation as I helped him with the food.

We packed camp as dawn broke and made our way to the cliff face. It wasn't difficult to find hand and foot holds and we made our way up the first face to a grassy ledge large enough for us to sit and rest in the midday sun. We had made good progress and our spirits were high. The view was magnificent, even though we hadn't travelled up that far. But we didn't have a lot of time to admire it, Kenobi was eager to get climbing again and despite his lack of ability he certainly kept up with us.

Sav led the way, finding it very easy and obviously enjoying the challenges. Kenobi was nest, following Sav slowly but carefully, he seemed to be learning with every move and I came last finding it increasingly difficult to keep up as Sav and then Kenobi sped up their efforts to ascend the mountain. As our first day of climbing came to a close, Sav led us to a plateau he'd spotted earlier. As we approached the plateau, Kenobi stopped.

Sav, wait," he hissed, and Sav immediately froze. Still barely more than a whisper Kenobi said, "let me go first, something's not right."

He moved quietly passed Sav and disappeared over the plateau edge. Dusk was falling and it was getting difficult to see the rock face in front of me so I moved up close to Sav's position as quietly as I could. No sound came from above us, although at one point I was sure I heard a low buzzing sound.

The moonlight shone down, showing us our best way to the plateau and after a few more moments hesitation I made the decision to go up there.

Sav grabbed my arm to stop me. He said 'wait'. You remember the last time you didn't listen to his advice?" But I shook loose of his grip and slipped over the top.

This was a wide but rocky stretch of land and I found cover for myself and my gear. Still no sounds. I looked out from my hiding place, trying to locate any sign of the Jedi knight. I pulled Mum's walking stick from my pack and made ready to move into the area ahead.

There was a sudden rustle behind me and I swung round bringing the stick down hard. Unfortunately, on Sav, who had followed me. He immediately went to yell out but I managed to put my hand over his mouth and stifle his cry. He grabbed his left arm where I'd struck him.

"Sorry!" I whispered as he looked at me accusingly, but he quickly relaxed and we moved back to our hiding place.

"I'm going for a look around, stay here," I said and trying to make as little noise as possible and keeping as low as possible, I left Sav rubbing his arm and crawled into the undergrowth, still wielding Mum's staff.

A great roar erupted into the night sky and from my vantage point I saw a black mass rise up out of nowhere. It tossed something green and brown across the plateau, which twisted in mid air and came to rest in a crouch not far from my position. Kenobi immediately spotted me and did a forward roll in my direction. He grabbed Mum's stick and threw me an excited grin,

"Just borrowing it," he said and leapt to his feet running straight for the black shape.


	8. Chapter 8

"Just borrowing it," he said and leapt to his feet running straight for the black shape.

As soon as it saw him it lurched forward swinging its great arms to swat him like a bug. Kenobi ducked and dodged, then used the stick to pole vault up onto the beast's head. He then disappeared from view as he ran down its back. The creature stumbled forward a few steps and then steadied itself. It began to turn and it was then I heard the buzzing again, realizing it was Kenobi's saber. The beast screamed as the brilliant blade sliced it's legs and the creature fell forward clutching at the wound it had sustained. The air was filled with the pungent smell of burning flesh. The light sword struck again, penetrating the monster's great arm and going deep into its side. Its agonized scream rang out and with its final death throws made one last strike towards the small figure I could see behind it. Kenobi jumped backwards to avoid the swing and the monster fell forward and lay motionless at his feet as the Jedi extinguished the weapon.

"Vin, sav, it's safe," he called and I raced over to the fallen beast. Kenobi was breathing hard but otherwise seemed unhurt.

"That was great!" I exclaimed looking down at the corpse. Sav walked over to us, still clutching his arm.

"Yeah, really good," said Sav rather miserably," but I think you broke my arm, you idiot!" He sank to his knees as he approached and we moved over to him. Using his skills, Kenobi was able to determine that the arm was badly bruised but was nothing serious. He rummaged in his pack for a few moments and gave Sav a small packet of ointment.

"Here, rub that in well over the injury, it'll be fine tomorrow."

"Any more of those things around?" I asked looking about us.

"Just the two, second one caught me a bit off guard, but everything's fine now." He pointed to another great mass, which I had thought was a rock formation. Both bodies were covered in think fur, but the one I hadn't seen until Kenobi pointed it out was colored different shades of grey-brown, making it almost blane in with the boulders and rocks around us.

"Nice bit of camouflage, that," I said.

"I agree," said Kenobi, "and there's something interesting over here you should see."

I helped Sav stand up and we moved to the back of the plateau, against the nest cliff face we'd have to climb. As we got closer it was quite obvious that great holes had been carved into the rock face and filled up with the stone it had been carved from.

"That's where they came from, inside the rock. They'd been waiting just beneath the surface. I could feel them within the mountain, waiting for us. Then as I approached, the first one burst through and attacked. I've never seen anything quite like it. Have you?"

Sav and I were, pretty much, speechless about this. These creatures were wholly new to us. I mean, garegrax are impressive, incredibly agile and a bit testy when cornered, but the most you have to worry about is a herd stampede. These things actually hunted you, which was not a comforting thought.

"We'll have to be on our guard from now on," said Kenobi," I'm pretty sure these things are indigenous so there will be more of them. We'll have to take turns to keep watch from now on."

"I say Vin takes the first watch tonight, then," said Sav rather indignantly and he rubbed his arm rather vigorously while glaring at me.

"I'm really sorry, I thought you were, well, I really didn't know what you were. Better to be safe than sorry though, right?"

There was no signs of any more of the creatures, which Sav and I nicknamed Obis after their discoverer. Not that Sav or I actually told him that as we felt he probably wouldn't appreciate that! The next day we began the ascent again and realized by midmorning it was going to be a lot tougher from here. Foot and hand holds were becoming less easy to find and progress for the rest of that day was pretty slow. And as we climbed it seemed that Pass Nivone was getting no nearer. The next few days were no better but at least the weather stayed fine. It was on the sixth day of our ascent that this changed and the weather finally turned against us. Great gusts of wind swept up and swirled around us and on several occasions I lost my grip for a moment with a foot or a hand and found myself desperately trying to find places to cling to. I'm sure Sav and Kenobi suffered the same problems because at the end of that day no watch was kept, we just immediately went to sleep once we got to a small ledge for cover.

The seventh day started with a great clap of thunder, which woke us and we found that huge drops of rain were crashing down around us. The ledge gave us a reasonable amount of cover and we stayed there for most of the morning while the storm raged around us. The light show was pretty spectacular and as the storm moved into the valley we watched as it blew out across Bowa and on to Taris. I thought of Tai in the fields somewhere, probably with Dil or Dad, and how excited they'd be with the rain pouring down on them, filling the collection troughs and running over the crops. Every time it rains in Taris we have a party, and for the first time in the whole trip I felt homesick.

Once the sun came out again we made ready to move off and Sav did a scout about to see how far we had to go.

"Another day should do it," he said excitedly on his return, "but I did see something up on the pass, a red glow."

Kenobi grabbed his arm and looked him right in the eyes.

"Tell me exactly what you saw," he said, the seriousness returning to his voice.

"Well, I couldn't make it out very clearly, it was just up there right in the middle of the pass, like an old beacon or something. I don't know, maybe we should take a closer look."

Sav was eager to discover what it was he had seen, but Kenobi moved to the cliff face first.

"I'll take a closer look and call you if it's safe, OK?" Sav reluctantly agreed and Kenobi went off.

"I really don't like it when he gets all serious," I said to Sav. He nodded and took a slice of helta from his pack, which he split and gave half to me.

"Yeah, I agree, although he's been right so far. Do you think this has anything to do with that thing he said was here for him?"

"I hope not, that sounds really disturbing. I'm no coward, you know that, but let's face it, we'd be no match for anything he's apprehensive about."

"How about that, anyway? I mean I thought Jedi were supposed to be aloof, you know, emotionless, that kind of thing. He's a bit, well, unconventional isn't he?"

"I don't think it's about not showing emotion, it's just you don't let your emotions take control, self discipline and all that. He's concerned, he's not terrified or running blindly into battle with a ridiculous sense of optimism."

"True, true," conceded Sav, "I wonder how long it takes to train?"

"Well, first there has to be something about you, some natural ability with the force thingy, and they get you pretty young, when you're a baby I think. So I doubt you'd pass the entrance exam."

"Even so, there seems a lot to that's not strictly speaking 'force' dependent. Like the piloting and fighting, and then there's the diplomacy and charm. Wouldn't mind trying my hand at that stuff."

"Any one in mind for the charm stuff?" I smiled at my old friend when I realized he was blushing.

Before he could answer we heard Kenobi's voice above us. We looked up to see his head leaning over the edge. "Come on up, there's a better place to camp up here."

Sav started the climb first and I just had my pack comfortably on my back when a thought occurred to me.

"It's Raina!" I exclaimed, not really meaning to say it out loud, but Sav must have heard because he slipped from the wall and landed at my feet. I helped him up, brushing the dust off him. He just turned and glared at me, his favorite expression of late, and then started the climb again.

"I was right! It is Raina, isn't it." I said looking up at him.

"This is really not the time for this conversation, Vin," said Sav through strained teeth as he continued to climb.

"Alright then," I said as I began to follow," but we're not done with this, my friend." And I chuckled to myself as we continued up the face. Well, well, well, he had kept those cards pretty close, and when the time was right I was not going to let him forget this little incident.

It didn't take us long to reach Kenobi's position and from this new plateau we could see Pass Nivone quite clearly. The ground seemed to move up in a much less steep slope here and would have been an easy day's march than a climb. Pass Nivone was about ten men wide and flanked by great ridges of rock, which towered above us and extended along further into the Finurans. Beyond the pass all I could see was a deep blue sky with the occasional dirty grey cloud drifting across it. Then a light caught my eye and I looked back at the pass itself. Dead in the centre was a red glow, as Sav had described it, a red beacon."

"We'll have to get closer so you can see what that is, but it means we can't go through the pass, or climb higher than it, not without going a long way off our course. And even then I fear other scanners will be waiting for us."

As we moved closer, Kenobi explained that scanners were objects placed to continually scan an area. Their beams were everlasting and could stretch out like a web in any direction for many miles. When the beam is broken it sends back information about what broke it in the form of a 3D image, so if we were to pass in front, the scanner would generate an image of our faces, our bodies, every detail of us. Kenobi also pointed out that this particular model was a Mark 14, which had X-ray capabilities. At first he had thought that by using the skin of one of the Obis he could have slipped passed and the image would have been of a great monster, but with the X-ray the disguise would have been penetrated and his presence noticed.

"So what's the plan?" I asked as we sat some 500 yards from the pass. Kenobi sat and thought for a while. I looked over at Sav, who had taken to avoiding my gaze completely, fidgeting a lot. I was about to apologize to him when Kenobi sat bolt upright.

"We need to find one of those creatures," he said suddenly and stood up to move off.

"One of those Obi's? You've got to be kidding! They want to eat us, don't they?" cried Sav.

Kenobi slowly turned and looked at Sav. "What did you call them?" he asked.

"Oh, well, we thought," I began and he turned his piercing blue eyes on me. I had to look away, "Yes," I said addressing my boots, "well, you did discover them, so we thought it was only fitting to name them after you." I chanced a look at his face, which was trying to hold back a smile and failing miserably. Finally the smile widened freely and he rubbed his beard.

"Well, I'm flattered, thank you," he said trying not to laugh. "Now we'd better find one and hope it doesn't mind being called an Obi!"

He chuckled to himself and turned away from us, shaking his head. I wonder how many other Jedi have great hulking furry beasts named after them? Sav and I followed a little way behind, but Sav was still giving me the silent treatment, no matter how much I apologized. Finally he stopped me and said,

"Look, it's OK. We can forget it, alright? Just don't mention it again until we're off this damn mountain."

And that was that. I guess Sav was growing up too.

"So what do you reckon he wants a live one for?" asked Sav as we followed along. The terrain was rocky but not too difficult.

"Maybe he plans to have the thing rush it and either destroy it or at least damage it," I said.

"No, gentlemen, that would bring someone to replace or repair it, at the very least someone would come and investigate and we could easily be spotted from the air on the other side of that pass." He looked around our surroundings as he spoke, not looking back at us. "Ah, that's what I'm looking for."

We caught up with the Jedi and moved to a shoulder of rock that allowed us to spy down on a great wide plateau a small climb down from us. Kenobi pointed to what looked like a hulk of stone near overgrown grass and ferns. Having seen the grey Obi before I was now able to recognize a second one, lying presumably asleep.

"We'll need to get down there and take position close to the creature, and then when I give the signal run straight at it and follow it where ever it goes, understand?"

"You want us to run at it?" I exclaimed.

"Absolutely essential, we'll have to follow it very closely or it won't start digging."

"Digging?" said Sav, "I thought you wanted to go over the mountain, not in it."

No, not in it, but through it. Once It starts I can make the 'Obi' believe it has to get to the other side no matter what."

"Ah," I said, "Nice!"

We climbed down the slope and quietly made our way to the sleeping monster, which twitched and shook every so often, making our progress slow, but I noticed that as we got closer Kenobi closed his eyes and was obviously concentrating very hard on the creature.

When we were within a few feet of it, Kenobi's eyes flashed open and a great guttural roar came from him and he rushed the beast. Sav and I followed, though our cries were nothing compared to his. It had the desired effect, however, as the great obi practically leapt into the air and raced off towards the mountainside. The plateau violently shook as it landed and started running off, and I was thrown off my feet. I looked up to see the grey mass moving with incredible speed and Kenobi and Sav in hot pursuit. I quickly got to my feet, began my cry again and pelted after them all. Once it reached the cliff face it's great arms were raised and it began tunneling furiously. Sav was all for following it but Kenobi just managed to pull him back when the first of the great chunks of rock the obi was carving away landed inches from them.

"Now, we wait," said Kenobi and he and Sav backed off as the stone and rubble began piling up behind the obi, which was tearing a great gash into the mountain. Kenobi sat cross-legged and began to meditate, the sound from the mountain almost deafening as more dust and debris came from the whole. It was soon clear that as the obi moved through the mountain it was filling the passage behing it with rock hewn from in front of it.

After about an hour Kenobi stood up and moved over to where Sav and I had been trying to shift some of the debris.

"Great idea of yours!" I said sarcastically, "How are we supposed to shift all of this stuff?"

Kenobi just smiled.

"We don't have to shift it all. Besides, our friend found a wonderfully convenient open cavern inside some 20 feet or so, which should give me much easier access out through the Finurans.

"You mean 'us', right, not 'me'," I said.

Kenobi looked at us both and laid a hand on our shoulders.

"Vin, Sav, thank you for coming this far with me. You've both been of great service to me, but once I'm in that cavern I'll be able to find my own way out and down. I know now whom it is I must face and if he knew I'd had any help he's seek them out and wish to destroy them also. Once we get to the cavern we must part ways."

I wanted to argue with him. I wanted to go on, see the canyon beyond, maybe even as far as Minpanus, but I knew there was nothing I could say that would change his mind this time.

For a moment I thought Kenobi was about to speak again, but he seemed to stop and he got a strange faraway look in his eyes. He slowly raised his eyes to the sky and stared up into the cloud filled blue. We stood for a moment not really knowing what to do, was this some strange Jedi farewell thing?

"Hide!" he said in barely more than a whisper and he threw us to the ground. The three of us crawled over to some bushes and pulled the foliage over ourselves hoping that would give us some cover.

At that point a great black shape came over the finuran peaks. The noise was incredible and the ship moved a lot more slowly than I expected. As it filled the sky above us a great rush of wind swept down the cliff face over our position, taking the breath from us. It seemed to take ages to pass over and into the valley and as we found our feet again we could see that it was heading straight for Bowa.

"No!" said Kenobi quietly," it's too late, he's come."

He moved off towards the mountain edge we had just spent the last seven days climbing and stood at its edge as the great ship settled over our main valley town. From here it looked like it completely covered the place in a blanket of dark shadow, the spire of the town hall disappearing beneath it.

"We'll have to go back, or he'll tear the valley apart looking for me. Come on," he called and disappeared over the cliff edge. Sav and I grabbed our stuff and quickly followed. It was possible the people of Bowa had heard of Kenobi's presence. They would have surely seen the explosion of his ship and that would lead anyone straight to Taris. Both Sav and I were eager to help Kenobi in any way we could to prevent that from happening.


	9. Chapter 9

Our descent was fast, taking us a day to cover terrain which had taken three days to climb. That night we sat in silence around our fire, unable to sleep and impatient for the dawn.

"Right," said Kenobi, finally, "time to explain some things."

We drew in closer to the fire, all our attention on the Jedi.

"His name is Kol Ta Phes and he's a quolip, a four armed humanoid and he's well versed in Jedi skills. He, rather, has a grudge against my former master and I after we exposed his dealings in a planetary invasion on Telos, but tha's not important right now. The fact is he's after my blood and he doesn't care who he hurts to get to me. I thought the old fool was dead, but, rather obviously, the Jedi Order was ill informed. I had hoped to avoid a confrontation here but it seems unavoidable now. I'm only just beginning to realize the significance of this place, this valley. The living force has a strength, an overwhelming power over everything here, I first felt it that day we journeyed here to the Finurans. It was as though my abilities were amplified and intensified and I'll admit it was rather intimidating! You felt the change youself, Vin."

He was right, that night before our climb it had awoken me.

"However, my presence here began feeding this energy and just as I was able to sense Phes's presence thei valley acted almost like a transmitter and he sensed me with the same overwhelming power. There is something here, drawing us in and gaining in strength. I don't know if it's some artifact or living creature, I just know Phes will now be seeking it also, so we must find it first and I think I know where to make for. The Adta Woods."

"You must be joking," I said, "we need to get to Taris. If he's heard about the crash that's where he'll heard for, we have to warn them or stop him getting there."

"It's pulling us in. The quick way, the easy way to find me, is to find the source. As it pulls me back to the valley, so it pulls him." This was the first time I'd ever seen Kenobi struggle for words. "Perhaps not with the same strength, I've been under this thing's influence for longer. But he will find himself compelled to go there now."

"With that ship of his, he's probably there already," Sav pointed out.

Kenobi looked up over the black emptiness that surrounded us. I could see that his eyes were beginning to glow white, like torch lights, his very skin seemed to be changing, becoming transparent.

"No, he's still there, over Bowa." I gave Sav a worried questioning look, but he just shrugged his shoulders and looked back at the luminescent Jedi.

"I can see him, he's impatient, confused. He doesn't understand what's - … Yes, his obsession with me is clouding his mind, he doesn't see."

Kenobi closed his eyes and breathed deeply for a few moments. Instinctively Sav and I stood up and backed away from him. His whole body seemed surrounded by a white flame for an instant and then, suddenly, he was himself again, tanned skin, light brown hair and beard, humanoid. He bowed his head, sighed deeply and looked up as us, his eyes watery but no longer glowing. His smile was warm and we felt safe to sit back down, but we were both stunned to silence.

"That should keep him occupied for a while. If I may draw your attention to the north of Bowa, I think you'll be suitably impressed."

Kenobi pointed over to the right of our position. Everything was very still for what seemed like an age and then the sky was lit up by a brilliant display of fireworks and fireballs. It was obvious the great ship was in the process of crashing into the valley floor and as the light show died down the sound swept over us, shaking the ground. I turned to give Kenobi an excited grin and slap him on the back but I saw his face screwed in pain.

"What's wrong?" I asked and I went to his side.

"It's alright," he said through gritted teeth," I felt the ground scream at the impact. I wasn't expecting to feel it so intensely, but it had to be done. That will slow Phes down considerably."

"No one could have survived something like that, it was an inferno for sure," said Sav still looking over at the red glow coming from the crash site.

"Phes left the ship before it crashed along with fifteen crew. The rest have perished, their force joining the great scheme of energy that flows around us. I am sorry for their lose."

He pulled himself to his feet and I steadied him as we walked to the edge of the cleft we were on. He looked down and then around at the blackness surrounding us.

"That's not something normal Jedi can do, is it?" I said, my worried eyes trying to keep Kenobi's held for a moment.

"No," he said slowly, "you're right and I will explain. So much has happened in only these short minutes and more is going to happen, please, trust me. We have to get to Adta right now."

"That's impossible, it's pitch black down there," said Sav as he came to join us. Without giving us any warning, Kenobi grabbed us around our middles with each arm and leapt over the edge, pulling us with him. I grabbed onto him as we fell and yelled out freely as I looked down into nothing, the air racing up at me. After a while it seemed rather pointless to keep yelling so I stopped and realized we weren't falling that quickly at all. I chanced a look over at Sav whose head was buried in Kenobi's shoulder. Kenobi himself had that strange glow about him again and was staring dead forward.

I looked down again and realized I could make out the tops of the trees coming up at us. We seemed to pick up some pace here and the tree branches brushed past us, the occasional one snapping as we approached the ground.

"Get ready to roll away," said Kenobi in a low voice. I braced myself, shifting round a little and releasing my grip of the Jedi.

"Now!" he said and he let us go as our feet were inches from the ground. I landed and rolled forward, reducing the energy of the fall, but I was still a bit winded. I got up and looked round to see Sav being helped up be Kenobi who was himself again. It really was an eerie experience seeing him do that, and I guess my fear had made me just a little angry so I went up to the Jedi knight and tried to shove him over. It was like trying to move a brick wall! He was solid, which only made me more angry.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you maniac! That fall could have killed us! What the hell is going on, and will you please stop glowing like that, it really is getting on my nerves!" I was rather surprised by my outburst, but it did make me feel a lot better.

"Let's talk while we walk," came Kenobi's calm voice and he moved off into the night. I hurriedly followed and Sav came behind, limping a little.

"So how did you just do that?" I asked as we moved through the darkness.

"With a little help from our new friend. You see, Vin, this great disturbance in the force is being generated by a living creature, which is fighting to be born. I don't know it's full history. I get waves of images and energy that I can tap into because of my training and natural abilities. If only Qui-Gon could see me now." He seemed to drift off to somewhere else for a moment, perhaps remembering something pleasant about this Qui-Gon he spoke of, but it was fleeting as he soon continued. "Anyway, this baby, this child has been resting here just beneath the surface of this world, gaining in strength and feeding on the natural life force, which is in abundance here. Your very crops have aided this being to live and breathe. My arrival only sped things up a little and now it's ready to be free and find its way home through the stars."

"Where did it come from?" asked Sav from behind us.

"I don't think it will ever reveal where it came from, but it knows where it's going, and that's far away from here, further than anyone in this galaxy has ever travelled, perhaps even outside the universe, if such a thing is possible. As far as I can tell it was left here for its own protection. Its immense in size but still vulnerable and influenced by the powers around it. That's why I have to set it free."

"If it's so immense, what will that do to the valley if it breaks through the surface?"

"Bowa and Taris will be safe if that's what you're worried about. The Adta woods might sustain some damage, but this creature is mainly energy and force driven. Under my guidance it will leave the valley as unstained as possible, you have my word on that. But we must move quickly, I can feel it struggling to break free, it's becoming impatient. It must be feeling Phes' own emotional state and I don't have time to calm it."

He quickened his pace and I could see we were leaving Sav behind.

"It's funny that other Jedi didn't notice any of this stuff, you know, when she was in Bowa dealing with the civil trouble," he said as he hobbled on behind. Kenobi stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look straight at Sav, who was rather unnerved by his gaze.

"Well, all I meant was, she must have felt something strange, right, like you did." He rubbed his ankle, trying to get some sympathy. Kenobi knelt down and placed his hands around the injury. The skin got that transparent look about it, glowing for an instant.

"That should feel better," said the Jedi as he got up, "and you're absolutely right, Sav. I wonder if she was the one who set the beacon? Just to keep an eye on whatever happened here."

"Hardly a very good place to stick it, though, if you want to see the whole valley."

"No, but it is unobtrusive and you can tell if a ship is landing or taking off."

"Do you think it saw your ship come in and crash then? It must have picked up Phes' craft, that thing was huge." As I finished I looked over in the direction I thought the wreckage would have been.

"It must have seen both ships," Kenobi conceded, "yet no one came to investigate my crash, that was over two weeks ago now. The beacon is definitely active and sending back information, it's just that no one can be looking at it. Why couldn't I have seen this sooner? I could have left the valley, Phes would have followed me away from this place."

"Well, you have been a bit preoccupied of late, let's face it," I pointed out to him. He looked at me gravely.

"Yes, but I shouldn't have been. I've acted like a juvenile padawan during this whole incident. And just look at the pair of you, you must be exhausted." He looked way into the night.

"Damn!" he said suddenly, "It's getting worse. The creature's anxiety is building on my own. Phes must be nearer than I thought."

He took three deep breaths and motioned for us to come over to him.

"You're going to have to trust me again. We need to cover some serious ground and I'll need your support and strength when we get to the epicenter of all this. We're going to jump for it again."

The three of us stood together, Sav on Kenobi's right, I on his left. Once again he held us by our middles and I placed my right arm around his shoulders, Sav doing the same with his left. The he knelt down.

"Now, just jump as you would normally, I'll do the hard work and remember when we land to bend your knees as far down as they'll go. Right, ready?"

Sav and I nodded and I braced myself to leap into action.


	10. Chapter 10

Sav and I nodded and I braced myself to leap into action.

"OK. Now!" cried Kenobi and we pushed off, going high into the night sky. The air was exhilarating as it whizzed past my face and as we started to fall back down, my stomach was filled with a strange but comfortable warmness, which seemed to hold me up and carry me along. As we came down to land I got ready for the impact, which was surprisingly soft. We sank down on our knees but only for a moment as we were off again, travelling across the valley at a speed neither Sav nor I could have run.

We continued in this way until we could make out the tall keb trees of Adta and with one final push off we came to rest just passed the first trees. As Kenobi released me, the warm sensation in my stomach slowly died away to a dull but ever present ember, which I still feel even to this day. It's a wonderful thing to be in tune with the living force and once you experience that you never forget it and it never forgets you.

I have often talked to Sav about this and he feels the same way, we felt an overwhelming sense of well-being and comfort and it was pulling us in. If it was one third of what Kenobi was feeling, his composure and clear thinking were truly outstanding. You see, Sav and I ran into the woods, almost blindly, only moments after our touchdown, desperate to find the source of this power so we could experience it again and share our strength with it.

We were drawn to small hill within the trees, which seemed to be watching us, their branches guiding us. At the summit of the hill the ground was breaking, cracking and a smell reminiscent of freshly ploughed soil filled the air.

As we approached the ground split across the hilltop and a white beam of light stretched into the night sky. Sav and I were in awe of the sight before us. It seemed so natural, so beautiful, pure and free. I wanted to be part of it, I needed to feel it all around me and through me, but Kenobi's voice was in my head, calming me down, helping me resist the pull. Images of Tai, my father, Welsa, everyone, flooded to my mind's eye, bringing me down from this natural high and the realization that home was where I belonged and home was where they were hit me full in the face.

I looked over at Kenobi who and joined us and smiled at me.

"Powerful stuff, isn't it?" he said and he looked into the brilliant beam. "That should get the Jedi Order's attention, don't you think?" He leant close to me. "By the way, I think Raina is in for a bit of a surprise when you get back." We looked round at Sav who was sitting against a tree looking down at the palms of his hands.

We walked over to him and as we did I realized Kenobi had Mum's staff in his hands, along with the one Sav had been using as a walking stick.

"Where did you get that? I thought we left everything on the mountain."

"What does it matter, it's here now isn't it? Now, take it and get ready for a fight."

He placed the long pole in my hands and I looked at it for a moment then realized what he'd said.

"A fight? What, with this? It's hardly a blaster rifle!"

"Just do what comes naturally, trust me. Come on Sav, you too, on your feet."

He gave a rather dazed Sav his walking stick back.

"We need to give the creature enough time to break free some more and then I'm going to have to give it a good hard shove to get it away from here and out of harm's way, got it? Al all costs, we must prevent Phes from entering the light, is that perfectly clear? He would surely corrupt its force power and destroy us all."

"But there's fifteen of them! And a guy with Jedi powers!"

"Leave Phes to me. They're not here yet, I'm going to find them and pick off as many as I can. I thin kthe fear factor of this situation should help a lot. In the mean time keep your eyes open and keep out of site. If anyone other than myself heads for that hill, hit them with the staff. And if you get the urge to step into the light, just remember where you came from, and the fact that Dil is in love with Tai."

"He's what?" I exclaimed, but Kenobi was gone, dashing through the trees and soon beyond my sight. "Son of a b-"

"So there's sixteen of them," Sav interrupted me, "including an ex-Jedi and we've got a couple of twigs! Why doesn't he just zap them with this new found power of his?"

"How the hell should I know, you want to go ask him?" I gestured in the direction Kenobi had disappeared to.

"But you don't understand," said Sav, a strange far away tone entering his voice, "I love Raina, I mean I really love her. I have to get back!"

I had to drop my stick to turn and stop him from running into the trees.

"Snap out of it, those guys are between you and her and we can't just leave this thing defenseless. Kenobi is relying on us, now get a grip. We can't let anyone near that light."

Sav shook himself then looked passed me at the trees behind me.

"You mean like him?" he asked and I spun round to see a figure approach the hill. Just then the ground shook as the hole grew and more light filled the clearing. Judging by the blaster rifle he was barely holding in his left hand, I realized he was one of Phes' men, but the peaceful look on his face was rather unexpected.

I grabbed the stick from the ground, raced over to the man and swung hard, hitting the man across the head. He spun around and looked at me with astonishment, dropping the rifle as he fell backwards. The ground split further and he fell straight into it. I backed away from the opening ground and watched as the man stopped falling, just hanging there as though he had fallen on soft cushions.

"Wow," he said softly, a serene smile on his face, "pretty!"

Then he was gone, every atom of him just disappeared leaving nothing but a dirty yellow stain in the otherwise perfect light.

"Aren't you glad Kenobi stopped us?" I said as I just stared in astonishment.

"I looked over at Sav who hadn't said anything in reply. He looked a little green.

"I don't feel so well," he said, clutching his stomach.

"Oh come on it wasn't –" I had to stop mid sentence. I suddenly felt really ill, like I'd eaten something that hadn't areed with me. I had to doubt over for a moment to get my composure back and I looked at the yellow stain, which was slowly dissipating. As the last of it faded my illness faded with it and I helped Sav up.

"That was a bad guy, right?" asked Sav. I picked up the laser rifle.

"That's the kind of impression I got, yes," I replied.

"I can see why Kenobi doesn't want anyone going in that thing."

Once again the ground trembled under us and the crack opened wider. I was sure I could see movement in its center now. An incredible urge to move forward into it swept over me so I closed my eyes, conjuring up images of Tai fending off unwanted advances from Dil.

Suddenly an image came unbidden to my mind. I was sitting by the kitchen fire at home, Tai beside me and our son resting on my lap. I could see myself lift him up and hold him close. I opened my eyes, looking deep into the light ahead and I knew, no matter what, I would give my life to protect this creature, just as I would have given my life to protect my son. I turned away to the trees, illuminated by the growing light and prepared to stand my ground, holding Mum's stick in one hand, the rifle in the other. I was ready for anything. A glance over at Sav quickly told me he felt the same way. He held his staff in both hands and assumed a stance allowing his body to spring into action when the moment arose.

A cry from the woods alerted us to their presence. Five of them, two rushing Sav, two at me and one with the glaze-face walking slowly to the light. Incredibly, I managed to dodge several laser bolts and fired off two shots at one as I rolled forward and, gaining my feet, swung Mum's stick in the other's direction. When it made contact my assailant flew through the air and landed with a sickening thud quite some distance away. I turned back to see Sav deftly strike his second opponent, the first of whom was already sprawled out cold.

My attention was then drawn to the fifth man, almost at the light's edge. I raised my rifle to fire, but a sudden powerful force lifted me up and threw me into the trees, knocking the wind out of me. Luckily I had landed in a patch of ferns, but I looked over to see that Sav, having been caught by the same force, was now lying at the foot of a tree, completely motionless. As I got up to go over to him, the terrible ill feeling returned and I was physically sick in the undergrowth, almost collapsing completely. I steadied myself against a tree trunk and looked over at the hill formation. The fifth man was nowhere in sight and a brown stain slowly shifting and swirling away into the sky.

Quickly recovering, I could make out the figure of a huge humanoid, its four arms each brandishing a lightsabre. Phes had arrived and still no sign of Kenobi. I was transfixed, what if this thing had killed him? Who could save the creature, who could save any of us? I had no weapons or Jedi skills, but I was all that was left so I ran, screaming straight at Phes, who turned to look at me with great surprise. He lifted one of his great arms and waived it in my direction and I found myself once again airborne and thrown clear.

"I'll deal with you momentarily," he said, his purple eyes glistening with devilish pleasure. He turned to the ever increasing hole, lifted his four arms and stepped closer. I couldn't move, suddenly more tired than I had ever felt before and could only watch in silent horror as Phes approached.


	11. Chapter 11

The flash of a blue blade came from behind Phes and he spun round just in time to block Kenobi's blow. One of the sabers sliced into the light as he turned, leaving a great black gash within its radiance. I grabbed my side where the stealthers bolt had entered my body as I felt a searing pain rush through it. Through my half closed eyes I saw Kenobi retreat from Phes, his eyes also narrowed, his lips drawn tight over his teeth.

"You think _you_ can defeat _me_, you puny weak willed buffoon," jeered Phes.

"I don't need to beat you, Phes. You've already lost," said Kenobi, deflecting a series of blows Phes threw at him.

"This hasn't even started, you runt," spat Phes as he continued his onslaught. "and there's no Gon here to back you up." Even though Phes towered above Kenobi, he matched the quolip blow for blow and as he backed away from the creature I realized he was drawing Phes away from it.

"His name was Qui Gon and he would be so disappointed with you, Phes."

This enraged Phes even more and he moved in closer to the Jedi, swinging his blades in an intricate display that drove Kenobi further back.

"You never did understand the concept of our power over weaker beings, did you, you sniveling imp."

"I understand only too well your concept of power and the abuse of it." He dodged and parried with blinding speed and accuracy. "How many Delos council members did you dispose of before Qui Gon severed all your arms?"

A cry of rage erupted from Phes and he charged Kenobi.

"Why so tetchy?" asked the Jedi knight as he stepped aside, deflecting a couple of blows, "They grew back, didn't they?" And with that he brought his blade down, slicing one of Phes' arms at the elbow. Phes screamed in agony and as Kenobi moved in to attack the stricken quolip, the ground around them and under me trembled and shook violently.

Over the roar of noise I was just able to make our Kenobi say: "Vin, grab Sav and get clear."

I quickly got to my feet and stumbled over to Sav's limp body. Thankfully he was still breathing and I hoisted him over my shoulder and ran into the trees. We didn't get far before we were thrown forward by the blast of the hill erupting behind us. I rolled Sav and I behind a nearby tree as debris flew past us. I could see that Phes and Kenobi had also been thrown clear, but Kenobi was soon on his feet and running straight for the great being emerging from the hole. Phes was fast, however, and raised himself up enough to slice Kenobi across the back, which the Jedi was unable to escape.

He arched his back as the laser sword bit deep into his flesh. He threw his head back and the sound that came out was deafening and not just coming from him but from the creature also. He stumbled forward and stretched out his arms to the shaft of light and fell to his knees at its rim. The movement I had seen earlier within the centre of the creature reached out to him and held him up, but didn't draw him inside.

A sudden image of the blaster rifle filled my mind and I looked down to see one at my feel so I picked it up, firing several shots in Phes' direction. He had gotten to his feet and was heading for Kenobi, but he had to stop to deflect my shots and it prevented him from getting any closer to the Jedi. Sav began to stir beside me and I nudged him with my leg trying to get him to come round some more.

"What's happening?" he said dreamily.

"Grab a gun and fire at Phes!" I screamed at him and without really knowing what he was doing he looked down, picked up a second blaster which was wonderfully and conveniently close by and started shooting in Phes' general direction. His shots were a little less accurate than mine, but they had the desired effect and Phes ran off into the darkness.

"Come on," I said and rushed to Kenobi's side, Sav followed,l half falling, half running along with me.

"Do you think he'll be back?" Sav asked as we reached the kneeling Jedi. I glanced into the blackness but couldn't see a thing.

"More than likely. Keep an eye out. Anything moves, shoot at it!" I gave him my rifle and knelt beside Kenobi. His back was badly burned across the right shoulder and down the small of his back, but the blow had just missed his spine.

"Ah, Vin, are you glad you came?" he whispered and he managed a weak smile. He took one of his hands from the creature and held it out to me. "Almost over, I'm so tired. I need some more strength from somewhere. Take my hand and place your other hand on the ground, and please, think of home and everything that's wonderful about this place."

I looked down at my hands and rubbed the dirt off them, then taking the Jedi's hand in mine and placed my other hand on the smooth warm grass, I filled my head with memories from my childhood, the first time I went climbing alone with Mum, the first time I saw Tai, helta cheese and warm yinpatta bread.

Through my haze of memories I heard Kenobi's voice far away say: "There she goes," and my eyes opened to see the great plume of energy lift up and sore into the stars. Part of me was flying with her, I could see out over the whole valley as clear as day, it was green and bright and so full of life. Then we were higher still, able to see the whole continent beneath us, a world of peaks and canyons, surrounded by a great rolling ocean. And still further we climbed until all I saw were stars, bright and clear, unblinking. We stopped and turned to look back at Loritians, my home world, a beautiful glowing ball of green and blue with the odd swirl of white and grey cloud. I looked across at our two moons, barren and cold.

"Time to go home, Vin," came Kenobi's voice and I looked over to try to see him but he was already gone and I found myself drifting back home. Something caught me for a moment. A sensation of overwhelming love and happiness swept over me and I felt the purest, most perfect kiss gently caress my lips. I didn't hear any words, I just knew she meant "thank you" and with that my descent resumed, and I looked out at the stars watching her disappear between them. I closed my eyes and sank back into the fall, which seemed to be taking a very long time so I reopened them to see dawn breaking and the great hole which had been in front of us was now a glistening pool of deep blue water.

I turned to Kenobi, whose eyes were still closed and he swayed a couple of times, his grip on my hand loosening. Then he fell back and I caught him in my arms, laying him carefully on the ground. We had no supplies and no way to treat his wound. Sav dashed over to us.

"We should grab him and get going. Phes is still around here somewhere."

I looked around us cautiously, the only sound being the gentle ripple of water in the pond.

"I'll carry him, you keep look out," I said.

I stripped Kenobi's shirt and jumper from him and used the torn and singed fabric as a makeshift bandage. Then I hoisted Kenobi's body over my shoulder and we moved off into the undergrowth.

"Where do we make for, Taris or Bowa?" asked Sav.

"Bowa," murmured Kenobi, but he immediately went silent again before I could question his decision.

"It _is_ closer," said Sav bending down to retrieve Mum's walking stick. "How did this get here?"

He stared at it for a moment and then handed it to me. I examined it carefully, just checking it really was Mum's and there were the knots of polished wood, just where they should have been. Just holding it seemed to give me more strength and I felt ready for another march. Sav looked exhausted, but had the excited look in his eye of one ready to face another adventure. With a blaster rifle in each hand he looked like a badly dressed bounty hunter!

The rising sun revealed the billowing trees before us as a great gust of wind rushed through them and we started our journey. It was slow going, carrying a dead weight Jedi is not easy and I had to rest more times than I thought safe. The whole time we felt we were being watched, but we tried to keep our minds off it with our conversation, even though we never actually kept our eyes from the trees around us.

By mid-morning we were reaching the outskirts of the Adta woods and I had filled Sav in up to the point when I knelt beside Kenobi.

"So what happened there, with the thing?" asked Sav, "you were motionless for hours."

"It was wonderful, we set her free, she lifted up above the planet and on into the stars. I saw the whole valley, the whole world. And she kissed me, Sav, I'll never forget that kiss as long as I live."

"She?" said Sav, "It was a girl? I never would have guessed that. Should Tai be worried?"

I laughed at him, thanking him in my mind, for saying something to cheer me up.

"Don't be daft, it would never work. She's an intergalactic traveling ball of energy and force and I'm a farmer. The glowing thing would drive me crazy, I'd never be able to sleep!"

"Still," said Sav through his laughs, "harvesting would be a doddle, I mean, all you'd have to do is ask her to ask the crops to fall over or drop their fruit and it's done in minutes."

He continued to giggle as we walked, but then suddenly gripped my arm and took in a sharp short breath that had me turn to him. The sound of blaster fire now erupted around us and Sav crumpled to the ground. I hit the floor, dodging another volley of fire and grabbed the rifle from Sav's hand. Kenobi rolled off my shoulder and lay inert beside me. I pulled myself into a crouch and looked about as another few blasts came from within the trees. Still holding Mum's walking stick, I made a dash for the shelter of a fallen tree trunk close to where we had been attacked. I fired a few shots in our assailant's direction and tried to peer through the undergrowth.

"I have you now," came a voice from behind me and I just had time to raise Mum's staff in my defense as Phes brought a saber down at me. Incredibly, the sword just bounced off the pole and Phes screamed at me, giving me enough time to raise my rifle, which he promptly sliced in two with a second lightsabre. With his third arm, he reached down, grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and hurled me across the clearing. I landed and found myself covered by two men brandishing blaster rifles.


	12. Chapter 12

_crystalfeathers: Yep, poor old Vin does seem to have gotten into a spot of bother. Oh well, it's all a learning experience, right? Thanks for the continued interest. Hope you like this last one._

I landed to find myself covered by two men brandishing blaster rifles.

"Get him on his feet, I want him to see this," Phes called over to us and I was unceremoniously pulled up, my arms held tightly by my sides, Mum's stick at my feet.

Phes walked over to Kenobi's body.

"On your feet, you scum sucking piece of earth." Kenobi tried to crawl away and got to his knees, but Phes planted a savage kick to the Jedi's stomach, which sent him into the air against a tree. He cried out as his injured back made contact with it, but as he landed he found his feet and looked defiantly up at Phes, still doubled over, but steady. I could just make out that his eyes were beginning to glow, a flicker of light passing over them as he stared Phes out.

"You really should control your aggression, it's most unbecoming," Kenobi hissed through gritted teeth.

Phes force threw him towards the three of us and Kenobi landed heavily on his side, but his eyes were glowing now as they had only a night before and I knew now was my chance. The two men who held me saw Kenobi's eyes also and I could feel their grip slipping so I shoved to the right, sending that guy sprawling and swung a punch to the left guy's face, sending him to the dirt and I was free.

Phes yelled and leapt for us, but I was able to grab the staff at my feet and throw it to Kenobi. He rolled over and used it to block Phes' first blow. The second saber swung across, intending to slice Kenobi down the middle, but it stopped mid swing and Phes screamed with anger, pain and surprise as the arm swung back in the opposite direction and twisted completely off. He staggered back, allowing Kenobi to get to his feet and they stood struggling against each other's strength of will. With a look of horror on his face, Phes was thrown backwards through the air and against a tree, which he slid down, landing hard on his legs, having to bend and go down on one knee to remain upright. I noticed the guy on my right make ready to fire on Kenobi, so I leapt on him, struggling with the gun. I elbowed him in the face and he fell like a sack of ikthar roots. I grabbed his rifle, which is what I should have done once I had thrown Kenobi the pole, and aimed at Phes. Kenobi immediately turned his lamp like eyes on me.

"Stay out of this, Vin," and I found myself compelled to lower the gun. My attention was diverted to the men at my sides as the one on the left groaned, so I stepped back a few paces so I could cover them both.

Phes used this distraction to charge Kenobi, who turned back to his enemy, holding the wooden staff as though it was a lightsabre. Phes now only had one sword and the battle was evenly matched, for a while neither appeared to have the upper hand. But suddenly it seemed that Kenobi was looking strength, he looked as if he was finding it increasingly difficult to move around and with Phes' continued attacks he was pushed back and stumbled, going down on one knee, the blows raining down on him, his makeshift sword appearing to become heavier in his hands.

Phes laughed and lifted his arms, ready to bring the sword right down Kenobi's throat. Kenobi just sat there, eyes his closed, he brought the stick down to touch the ground and placed both hands around it. Phes brought the sword down and I looked on in horror as it raced towards Kenobi's face.

The light from the sword exploded, throwing me off my feet and sending Phes sprawling. Kenobi rose to his feet, the staff still touching the ground in front of him.

"Don't be foolish, Phes."

The words weren't spoken, they just filled the air and reverberated around the trees, who almost looked accusingly at Phes.

"You think you frighten me, you worthless dung shoveller?" And with his last two hands he grabbed the pole just below Kenobi's own hands, presumably to wrench it from the ground and use it against the Jedi.

"Now, you see, that _was_ foolish," rang out the calm but strong voice.

It was imperceptible at first, but the ground was shaking and moving, leaves and seed cones started falling around us and all the time Kenobi was still and silent. Phes suddenly looked around, fear creeping it's way over his face. At his feet, roots started coming up out of the ground. They wrapped around his feet and ankles and rose up his legs. He cried out and let go of the staff, his hands clawing at the growing plant. They swept up and encased his hands and arms, pulling him down his already covered lags and up his twisted torso. His scream was silenced as the growth thrust into his mouth and over his head, leaving Phes' body completely covered. The deformed tree shape writhed momentarily and changed from green to dark brown as the movement was restricted and finally ceased.

Kenobi lifted his hand and placed it gently where Phes' forehead would have been. The hardened, dead plant split and fractured to dust as it collapsed on itself and a sudden, strong gust of wind blew the powdered ex-jedi across the valley floor.

Kenobi lent on the staff for a moment but soon recovered. As I moved to his side I saw the glow within his eyes beginning to fade.

"I'm almost spent," he said slowly and quietly, "please, Vin, you'll have to lead me to Sav."

We knelt by my fallen friend, who I feared was dead. The shot had hit him in the back of his right shoulder, which looked pretty messy, but he was still alive and breathing shallowly.

"I don't have enough energy to heal him completely, but I'll do what I can."

"What about yourself?" I asked. The man looked like he was dying before my eyes.

"Sav needs this more than I, and I sense a friend approaching. I'll be fine."

He placed his hands over Sav's back and the transparentness came over his skin again. As the wound closed I noticed the color drain completely from Kenobi's face. The air rustled and shifted around us and I looked up to see a small craft hover overhead. I stood up and waved my arms to signal to the ship where we were and I saw it pass over to a patch of open land where it landed gently. I ran across to the Jedi ship and before the landing gear had settled, the front hatch popped open and a female Jedi climbed out and stepped down to the ground. I recognized her face straight away even though it had been 15 years, the long dark tentacles that one might have mistaken for hair at a distance, were held back away from her face, her huge black eyes betraying her concern for her fellow Jedi.

"Kenobi, where is he?" she asked, and I led the way. Once she saw his fallen figure, she ran to his side. Sav, whose wound wasn't completely closed but certainly didn't look as life threatening, was trying to sit up, so I helped him into a sitting position, his face contorted in pain. He looked around the scene, the new arrival tending to Kenobi, the unconscious gunmen on the other side of the clearing, and my bedraggled but relatively unscathed form.

"I guess we didn't die, then?" he said groggily.

"So, how do you feel?" I asked nervously, looking over at Kenobi, who was propped up in bed in the better guest room at Dad's. He still looked a little pale, with dark rings under his eyes and his torso heavily bandaged, but his eyes were sparkling and he looked restless. Apart from a few bruises I was fine and Sav was sat next to me, his right arm in a sling.

Returning to Taris had been singularly uneventful, considering the last few days we'd lived through and Dad had insisted the Jedi stay with us. It had been closer than Bowa and the Jedi had wanted to minimize attention being drawn to the woods. Phes' ship crashing in the valley had distracted local officials to her presence and she and Kenobi seemed eager to keep it that way. Jedi Fot Moasta had found that the combination of our med-kit, her kit and her skills had been enough to stabilize Kenobi, but she was reluctant to have him take the long trip back to Coruscant until he was stronger. This was the first day in a week that he had been allowed visitors and we had been given strict instructions not to tire him out.

"Better than could be expected," said Kenobi with a wry smile. "How's the back, Sav?"

"Oh, it's good, just a bit sore at this point. The sling is just a precaution." He looked down at his feet. "Thank you, for, you know-"

Kenobi's smile broadened. "Couldn't have Raina disappointed, now could we?"

Sav blushed but chuckled at the Jedi's words. "Yeah, quite a few things have changed around here since we got back,' he said, pulling at his sling a little.

"Glad to hear it." He sighed heavily and leaned back into the pillows. For a moment I thought he had fallen asleep again, but he took in a deep breath and looked back at us, those blue eyes sparkling again.

"I suppose you both have questions about our little ordeal," he said smoothly.

Sav and I looked at each other, and then back at the Jedi. He was right that we wanted to know more about what had just happened, but we were both hesitant.

"We were told not to tire you out, I have a feeling explanations would do just that." I said, not wanting to go against Jedi Moasta's instructions. Kenobi brushed them off.

"Really, I'm fine and rather wide awake, I could do with the stimulation of such talk. And it's the least I can do for you since I brought you both into this mess and almost got the pair of you killed again!"

We looked at each other again, still unsure.

"Alright, you can ask three questions and I'll keep the responses as brief as I can. How does that sound?"

Well, it sounded good, but now we could only ask three questions, so the problem was, what three questions were we going to ask him?

_And so you now have the opportunity to come up with three questions that Vin and Sav might pose to Kenobi RELATING TO THE ADVENTURE THEY JUST UNDERWENT TOGETHER! And I'll choose the best three questions from any that get submitted. Hope the ending of Phes wasn't too "FernGully"!_


	13. Chapter 13

_crystalfeathers: Thanks for the questions, here are your answers, I do hope you like them._

I thought for a moment, contemplating my choices, but it was Sav who spoke up first.

"So, what was that…that creature thing, anyway?" he asked. Obi-Wan smiled at the question, clearing his throat to respond.

"Yes, that is a good question. She never gave me a name of her race and I doubt she had a personal name, certainly not at that stage in her development. Perhaps once she was with her own kind she would take on a name," he seemed to drift, looking past us and out of the window for a moment, but then he snapped back to the room and Sav's question.

"Anyway, she was certainly a creature far beyond anything any sentient race in this galaxy has witnessed. I have discussed this with Master Moasta and she is well versed with every force sensitive creature in the known galaxy. She has never heard of anything like this and was tremendously disappointed she wasn't here to witness it firsthand. Although, her visit here all those years ago was not without merit, she has been able to accumulate a tremendous amount of data over the last few days since I inadvertently arrived and sped up the gestation of the creature." He looked a little guilty at his involvement, but that quickly passed to amusement as he continued.

"Oh well, maybe next time she'll be the one chased down by bounty hunters onto a world harboring a force being that's ready to wake up!

"This planet was only habited by sentients in the last fifty standard republic years, which is what really started things rolling. She was tremendously curious of you as she slept and felt the tiny patter of your feet above her, so she began to wake, ever so slowly, to become more aware of your comings and goings and she quickly became very fond of the careful way your people took the time to treat this valley with respect and love. So she helped things along a little bit. It was easy for her to cycle her force energies through the valley and back into her system and each time she did this it helped her develop and move closer to full awakening as she took in your very energies into herself. That's probably why she was so able to understand your desires when she requested your help, gentlemen. "

He looked between Sav and myself, his infectious smile having me beaming and Sav looking away as his cheeks blossomed from the memory of his revelation regarding my sister. He hadn't taken much time at all once we got back to stiffly get down on one knee, still injured mark you, and propose to the startled, but immensely flattered girl. I remember after her acceptance, he had needed support to get him to our guest room for some well deserved rest as the enormity of what he had just done hit him in the face. But Raina was quickly at his side, comforting him and reassuring him while we took care of his shoulder. I remember Tai ushering us all from the room to give them some privacy and I hugged her for a long time, just breathing in her warm scent before we took our own rest.

"She made it clear to me that a small part of her energies will always be here, cycling through the valley as long as the balance you and your kind have established here is maintained, and judging by the strong families I've encountered here I really don't think that's going to be a problem. Of course, you'll probably have to endure a few Jedi researchers popping over from time to time to check on the situation, subtly of course, nothing to disrupt that balance, just think of them as observers. Absolutely no four armed saber wielding revenge seeking ex-Jedi, I promise!"

"That brings me to the second question I had in mind," I said, seeing as Kenobi had brought him up anyway, "who was Kol-Tar-Phes?"

Kenobi's face darkened for a moment, but only for a moment as he composed himself for his next story.

"Right," he began, shifting to get more comfortable. We helped him sit up a little more and he winced at the pressure placed on his injury by the move, but once settled he did look more comfortable.

"Kol was an excellent student of the force, or was when I knew him. He was several years my senior and he and his master often performed displays of their combat techniques when I was a youngling just starting out at the Jedi temple. His elegant use of his four sabers was really quite impressive and his stature was in complete contrast to his peers, he was always the tallest creature I had seen. His master in contrast was one of the smallest, her being a – " *

"Obi-Wan.." came a voice from the hall behind us. We turned to see Master Moasta glaring intently at our Jedi friend and we quickly turned back to him to see what the fuss was about. He only nodded and then continued with his story.

"Well, Kol's master was very small, with pointed ears and green skin," he looked back to Moasta, "is that OK to mention?" he asked her a little sarcastically and we turned back to her, an amused smile on her face and she nodded once before leaving, shaking her head. Kenobi was continuing, so we turned back to him, eager to learn more.

"Her name was Master Yuril and she was a very powerful force user. The two of them were very close, as close as a master and padawan can get, they were able to anticipate each other perfectly and were often sent on the most controversial missions given to the Jedi. On one such mission, two factions within the planetary government of Delos were warring for control over each other's territory and Master Yuril and Kol were sent to diffuse the situation. One Jedi team had already been sent and a padawan killed during a scuffle after a negotiation meeting had ended with a gross misunderstanding between the two groups.

"From what I understand, Master Yuril and Kol were sending back encouraging reports, I remember being assigned to write a report on one of the recorded negotiation meetings that came from them, and it was astounding to see Master Yuril work. It left an impression on me that led me to study her negotiation techniques quite closely.

"But then something changed. There was a breakdown in communication from the planet, a fact we younglings were never aware of, I found out all this sometime later when my Master and I became involved, but that's later. The last we heard was that Master Yuril had been killed in an airship accident and Kol was in critical condition and being brought back to the temple for immediate treatment.

"He was devastated when he woke and found his Master gone and he never truly got over it. I remember him for the first time after leaving the healers and he seemed so much shorter after that, his whole body weighed down with his guilt and grief. It appeared he was recovering after a while and even began heading out on missions with other masters as his training to become a Jedi Knight continued, but his aggression was growing, even as a youngling I remember that.

"And then, one day, I noticed he wasn't walking the halls anymore. He was still an impressive figure after the accident and rather noticeable, so his absence was obvious. I assumed he had been sent on a more lengthy mission, it happened from time to time that masters would be gone, working undercover or on extended security missions, but it would have been unusual for a padawan, however close to Knighthood to be absent for so long. I really didn't pay it much mind, but there were rumors that floated around for years as to what had happened to him.

"Delos, by the way, had been able to settle their differences and come to a mutual agreement over their territories and had even begun the process of gaining entry into the Republic. I had all but forgotten about Kol until my master and I were called to the Council and informed of a disturbance on Delos, where a number of the old guard had been murdered, only their torsos having been found and strange burns covering their bodies.

"The description of the burns had us all on edge, as they were clearly those created by a lightsabre, and although no one said it, we were all thinking about Kol. It didn't take my Master and I long to confirm our suspicions once we arrived and it was obvious Kol was targeting everyone involved in the crash that had resulted in Yuril's death. We were even able to confront him as he attempted to exact his revenge on the Delos High Government where my master severed all of his arms, but not before he had been able to kill a number of the delegates present. It turned out several of them had planned to assassinate Yuril and Kol that day with the crash to prevent them from continuing their negotiations, but the aftermath of the crash had forced them into compromise and working together they had resolved their planet's problems. It was impossible to convince Kol that inadvertently, he and Yuril had succeeded in bringing peace to the planet, all he saw was a government that had used his Master's death to their own ends and he vowed to destroy them all. After my Master had disarmed him, however, he left, presumably to re-grow his arms and we lost his presence again.

"That was not the last encounter the Jedi had with him, and after being thwarted by another Master padawan pair some years later, his attention must have moved from the Delosian Government to the Jedi. I should count myself lucky that it was I who received his attention first, if I believed in luck! I'm just glad he wasn't able to further his aggression, and that sweet creature of force was not overly exposed to that tortured and twisted soul."

He breathed a long drawn out sigh and I pondered that evenings events if Phes had succeeded in taking control of the creature. It had me shudder, thinking of that seemingly infinite energy being used against my friend and his people.

"It's over now," said Kenobi quietly, "he is one with the force, perhaps reunited with his dear Master." The sadness suddenly evident in his voice had me looking up at him and I noticed his deep blue eyes watering slightly. I suddenly felt I was intruding on something very private and turned to Sav who had seen it too and I looked at him intently, my eyes looking out the door and back to Sav, indicating we should leave. He nodded very slightly and then did his best fake yawn and stretch, accidently pulling on his healing arm.

"Ow," he exclaimed, "I mean, oh, erm, I'm suddenly really tired, I should go lie down for a bit I think, Vin could you help?"

"Oh, yes, of course Sav, I should be helping Tai with dinner, I did promise that." We got up to leave and turned back to the smiling Kenobi.

"It's been good to talk, my friends, thank you," he said, "but I think you are forgetting to ask me one more thing."

Sav and I looked at each other.

"We are?" asked Sav, still looking at me in confusion.

"Well, yes of course," said Kenobi, "I was rather hoping at least one of you would ask me to attend you weddings."

We looked back at the Jedi with expressions of complete surprise.

"But of course, if you feel I am unworthy of gracing such ceremonies then –"

"No, no!" we both said suddenly, shaking our hands to stop him.

"We would be honored if you would come!" I said breathlessly, startled he would be interested in our simple happenings. His infectious smile spread over his face and he sat back into the pillows looking very pleased with himself.

"Excellent," he beamed as he continued to settle back and closed his eyes in contentment, "looks like I'll be heading back here soon. Anakin will love it!"

_And that is that! I hope you guys liked this. I have a (kind of) sequel to this, but I really want TtEoaBN to be finished before I do anything new. Anyway, enjoy!_

_* So, I couldn't find the name of Yoda's people or his home world, so I thought it might be fun for it to be this really big Jedi secret that is revealed to Jedi on their knighting and not revealed to anyone else, although people like Obi think it's kind of silly to do that._


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